AbstractsLanguage, Literature & Linguistics

Le Misanthrope.

by Henry William Lenz




Institution: University of Louisville
Department: Academic Department
Degree: MA
Year: 1912
Record ID: 1562235
Full text PDF: http://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd/816


Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to show that there is found in this "noblest of comic masterpieces" an absorbing study of mankind and a profound knowledge of the human heart. It is In his work that man gives himself to the world; in his literary efforts he gives a vivid portrayal of himself, his real and inner self is splendidly revealed, though the merely material man is kept in the background. Bearing this in mind the writer has endeavored not so much to depict the character of Moliere, but, rather by an analytical process, to designate the elements which constitute in a grand "ensemble" human nature the world over. The works of Moliere have always fascinated me, none other however, has so thoroughly impressed me as the most original of all the masterpieces of this great author. May then this brief study be considered an honest endeavor to give expression to the appreciation of Moliere's dramatic power in "Le Misanthrope", and the esteem in which this great poet is held by the writer.